Pure Safari

If you have any questions or would like further information on anything contained within this blog or some general advice on travel to Africa please call us on: 0044 1227 753181 or email info@puresafari.com

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Zanzibar — LIKE in many countries across the world, agriculture has
been backbone of Zanzibar's economy for many years. Although it is small
scale farming, agriculture has been basic occupation for majority
people with over 70 per cent of population relying on agriculture and
fishing for its livelihood.

The main farm production has been cloves, spices and fruits. Farmers
take care of entire process of agriculture like sowing seeds, weeding,
harvesting crops, and watering, while government helps to provide inputs
including required knowledge, tilling of the land by tractors,
provision of seedlings, fertilisers, and better prices after harvest.

Under the motto 'Mapinduzi ya Kilimo (revolution in farming)'
introduced after the formation of Dr Ali Mohamed Shein's Government of
National Unity (GNU) it has been taking several steps to improve
agriculture, including providing education to farmers on how to increase
productivity.
However, despite government promoting farming, some people
particularly the youths are not giving agriculture due treatment. People
fail to understand the importance of this sector because of slow
economic achievement.

Very few youths select this field as career or occupation. But
Tourism is another main industry in Zanzibar. Having realised the
importance of tourism to the economy, the Islands' Government has been
working hard to further promote tourism to attract tourists from around
the world.
The government has designated tourism as a priority sector of the
economy; contributing twenty seven per cent to the Gross Domestic
Product and providing directly 20,000-40,000 jobs.

It is estimated that indirect employment is between 60,000 and
100,000 people in the industry, they include food suppliers (and fish
mongers), traders selling tourists items, and taxi drivers.
Since tourism accounts for 80 per cent of the foreign currency, many
leaders and members of the business community describe the sector as the
backbone of the future economic growth and development of the islands.

The Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (ZATI) recently had a
colourful annual dinner held at the Zanzibar Beach Resort, where the
ZATI chairperson said; "Tourism is now the leading industry. It is the
backbone of the economy.

So, it really is a time for tourism for all... " ZATI chairperson Mr
Abdulsamad Ahmed Said informed the gathering that tourism requires
knowledge and awareness -- that would in turn bring positive change.

He said: "I believe that Zanzibar can strive to be the destination
that we want it to be." The event was officiated by German Ambassador,
H.E. Egon Kochanke as guest of honour.
He said Zanzibar has a bright future should the tourism industry be
well managed with workable planning. Minister for Information, Tourism,
Culture, and Sports Mr Said Ali Mbarouk, Urban West Regional
Commissioner Mr Abdalla Mwinyi Khamis, Commissioner of Police- Zanzibar
Mr Hamdani Omar, ZATI Executive Board, and ZATI members were also at the
function.
ZATI director & advocacy officer, Ms Pamela Matthews, and
administration assistant Ms Farida Nassor were also at the function
where Mr Said mentioned several key areas aimed at improving tourism in
the country.

The areas include: dealing with issues surrounding liquor licences,
the Policing, safety & security placed high on our agenda by working
closely with consultants, Ministers, Police in order to work towards
improvements of security in the islands.

"Following up on concerns over security at the airport; Taxation and
in particular the ongoing issue of the VAT Amendment; Waste management
issues and monopolies and issues with regional administration; and the
Zanzibar Commission of Tourism (ZCT) Regulations review," the ZATI
chairperson said.

He also mentioned other subjects being dealt with by his office to
build tourism as Lobbying Government at Parliamentary sessions for
changes; working closely with the Ministry of Health on Ebola &
sharing of information; and Conservation, by taking part in the South
West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project designed to improve the management
of fisheries and promote sustainable practices.
Mr Abdulsamad Ahmed Said, emphasized on having a good investment
environment, and that success of his private sector organisation (ZATI)
is very much dependent on the relationships with the Public Sector, to
support the growing industry to thrive and achieve its potential for the
people and the economy of Zanzibar.

He said, "So let's work together to face and resolve the challenges
that we are all facing. We are stronger together. More effective
together, we must encourage more and more public private partnerships as
this is what will enable us to make the changes that we all wish for."
According to the Zanzibar minister responsible for tourism
development, Mr Mbarouk, Zanzibar needs to improve its attraction sights
like culture, beaches, diving, forests, security, and the historical
sights. He said that visitor arrivals have been increasing to
Destination Zanzibar, with annual average visits of 150,000 in the past
recent years.

The minister said that the increase represents visitors from across
Europe and US. The minister emphasized on workable advertisements,
organized tours, peace and having no worry of insecurity, and involving
everybody in the campaign to promote tourism.

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

The government is finalizing the evaluation of two bidders selected to
invest on the Indian Ocean islands close to Dar es Salaam city. The
selected companies are Landmark Hotels and Prime Time Promotions.

The move by the Dar es Salaam Marine Reserves (DMR) to lease the
islands is to boost tourism. The islands have for many years remained
deserted.

DMR manages a group of marine wildlife reserves in Tanzania, situated
off the coast of Tanzania. The reserve system consists of nine
uninhabited islands of Bongoyo, Mbudya, Pangavini and Fungu Yasini.

Others are Makatumbe, Sinda and Kendwa Island. But to start with investors would take over Mbudya, Bongoyo and Sinda islands.

According to DMR's Head of Tourism Services Dept, Idelfonce Masekesa an
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been conducted and upon
completion it would be sent to the National Environmental Management
Council (NEMC).

Apart from those islands, DMR has also identified six areas for
investments along Mtwara region coastline, Southern Tanzania. Meanwhile
the government is revising the law to include fresh water islands.

"We are in a process to review the Act that established DMR, instead of
relying on Indian Ocean islands, we are now planning to include fresh
water islands on Lake Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyasa," he said.

Islands in both the Indian Ocean and the lakes have been idle in tourism for many years.
Previous government decisions may also been contributed to the delay in
investments, because in early 1960s the Kawawa Commission recommended
among other things to restrict investors from islands for security
concerns.

Mbudya Island is an uninhabited island in Tanzania, north of the country's capital city, Dar es Salaam.
The island lies close to the beach resort and fishing community of
Kunduchi and is reachable by means of a 20-minute motorboat ride
crossing from the mainland.

It is therefore a popular daytrip for both tourists and Tanzanian
residents alike, serving as a location for a variety of leisure
activities, including snorkelling, sunbathing and hiking.

Bongoyo Island is an uninhabited island in Tanzania, situated 2.5km north of Dar es Salaam.

It is the most frequently visited island of the Dar es Salaam Marine
Reserve (DMR) and a popular daytrip for both tourists and Tanzanian
residents alike for snorkelling and sunbathing.

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Last month the Cheli & Peacock Community Trust held its third medical camp at the Aitong Health Centre, not far from Elephant Pepper Camp in the Maasai Mara. The three-day camp took place from 24th – 26th
June 2014 and focussed on adult health, maternal child health
(including cervical cancer screening and family planning), nutrition and
dentistry. The main aim of the camp was to concentrate on these four
areas of health, while also building the capacity of the staff
clinicians and Community Health Workers.

Working with our partners Safarilink Aviation and The Kicheche
Community Trust, a team of six were flown to the Mara North Conservancy
for the medical camp and stayed at the nearby Elephant Pepper Camp. Dr
Anne Kihara, Dr Rose Kosgei, Dr Irene Marete, Dr Sarah Awino and three
dentistry experts kindly volunteered their time to work alongside health
centre staff to treat an impressive 544 patients!

The majority of patients required paediatric attention, while others
were treated for obs and gynae related matters, general ailments and
dentistry. Fantastic progress was made with general outreach although,
to build a way forward with the community, the Trust has highlighted
that more training on early diagnosis, prevention of infection, dietary
issues that place severe pressure on dental care and male attitudes to
family planning needs to be the focus of future work with the Aitong
Health Centre. It was also agreed that collaborating with other
partners and clinics in the area, alongside the Ministry of Health would
also bring great benefit.

The Cheli & Peacock Community Trust, its partners and volunteers
are already planning the next medical camp in November/December this
year, which will look to build the capacity of Aitong clinic staff
through training on key health-related issues (such as Emergency
Obstetric and Neonatal Care) and also branch into other clinics nearby.

For more info or to enquire about a safari at Elephant Pepper Camp please call: 01227 753181

Monday, 21 July 2014

The trampling of a Namibian trophy hunter by an
elephant has raised the debate around hunting permits issued for the
country’s gravely endangered desert elephants.

As reported in the Namibian newspaper New Era,
a Namibian professional hunter sustained multiple injuries when a young
elephant bull attacked him in the Uukwaluudhi Conservancy. He is now
recovering in hospital.

The victim was
assisting a German hunter who owns a hunting safari company. He was
given a permit by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and the
professional hunter was helping him to identify the best elephant
suitable for hunting.

The bull was
subsequently shot by environmental officials and the meat distributed to
the local community. It was the second elephant to be killed in the
region in recent weeks.

Conservationists have
been outraged over the government’s issuing of permits to hunt
desert-adapted elephants found in Namibia’s north western reaches.

Namibian
environmentalist Garth Owen-Smith, who won a prize in the 1990s for his
conservation work against illegal hunting, recently highlighted the
dwindling numbers of these unique creatures.

“This
population of between 120 and 150 elephants that live most of their
lives in the northern Namib are of enormous value to the country and the
world,” he said.

According to sources on the
ground, of this number only 18 are mature bulls – a fact which has
enormous implications for the breeding potential and ultimately survival
of the group.

The two trophy kills follow a
press release by the MET, in which it stated that only two ‘own-use’
hunting permits had been issued to conservancies in Namibia’s north
western region. However, this is allegedly in addition to seven trophy
hunting permits that have also been issued.

The
two bulls killed were both of breeding age. Following the death of the
first, a member of the Namibian Professional Hunter’s Association
commented to the Conservation Action Trust: “While I am completely in
favour of sustainable hunting, I don’t feel entirely comfortable with
the idea of shooting elephants in the Kunene region – particularly if
they are of breeding age, as this bull was.”

Suzi
Van de Reep, co-owner of the Kunene region’s Huab Lodge said: “I am
horrified by what is happening. At the start of the century, we had 13
bulls who used to visit regularly – we could virtually set our clocks by
their arrival to dig waterholes in the dry riverbed.

“Then,
within a space of three years, we lost every single one of them to the
gun – simply and solely because of hunting permits issued by the MET.

“And the tragedy is it’s not stopping. The government has to realise that these elephants are not replaceable.”

And you can spread the word - the MET needs as much heat on them as possible...

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

The Department of Home Affairs have now confirmed that the proposed date for
implementation of the new Immigration Amendment Act concerning children
traveling to South Africa will be October 1st. This is confirmed here.

"The Department of Home Affairs has provided a grace period
to allow children to travel with parents or guardians without an unabridged
birth certificate until end of September 2014.

This means that families will be able to travel with children
even for the coming school holidays as some would have made the necessary
arrangements ahead of the commencement of the Immigration Amendment Acts of
2007 and 2011 and the new Immigration Regulations. The Amendment Acts and
the new Regulations came into effect on 26 May 2014.

From 01 October 2014, the requirement for an unabridged birth
certificate for children travelling with parents will come into effect for the
safety of children, including their protection from child trafficking,
abduction and kidnapping.

The Department urges citizens and foreign nationals to heed the
call to apply for unabridged birth certificates for children. An unabridged
birth certificate of the child reflecting the particulars of the parents is
required in terms of the Immigration Regulation 6 (12)(a) for children
travelling with parents."

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

A significant yet seldom highlighted World Bank statistic is that half
of African countries (27 in total) are now classified as middle-income
countries. Private equity has enabled businesses in Africa to grow by
servicing rapidly gentrifying populations and is providing returns for
investors that outstrip public markets. Among the most promising sectors
is financial services, which has long been popular with the region’s
private equity houses, particularly as technological innovations, such
as mobile payments, have made financial services products more
accessible for the remotest of communities and as banking reforms in
many markets have led to consolidation. Other sectors that are
attractive for private equity investments include consumer industries,
infrastructure, telecoms, agriculture and forestry, and industrial
goods.

Africa set to gain US$3bn infrastructure fund. Africa’s
largest development lender, the African Development Bank, plans to
launch a US$3bn infrastructure fund this month, aiming to raise money
from regional and non-African pension funds, insurance groups, sovereign
wealth funds and institutional investors. The fund, to be known as
Africa50, will help the continent in delivering vital infrastructure
through a new global partnership platform, according to the proposal by
the African Development Bank. Africa needs about US$95bn a year to close
an infrastructure gap in electricity, roads, railway and port. Current
investment is running at about US$45bn. The AfDB, which will invest
US$500m, aims to approve the fund this month during its annual meeting
in Rwanda.

Ethiopia receives first sovereign Standard & Poor’s rating.
Ethiopia has received its first sovereign credit rating from the top
global agencies. Moody's assigned a B1 issuer ratings to the Government
of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the world’s fastest growing economies,
averaging growth of more than 10 per cent per year over the last decade
and attracting the likes of clothing giant H&M and private equity
groups.

Rebasing the Nigerian Economy. Nigeria, Africa’s top
oil producer and the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, with
an estimated 170 million people, has overtaken South Africa as the
largest economy after a rebasing calculation almost doubled its gross
domestic product to more than US$500bn. Nigeria’s market has been
growing as an investment destination owing to the size of its consumer
and growing capital markets. GDP growth averaged at 6% over the last 10
years despite global economic and local market challenges. Most
governments overhaul GDP calculations every few years to reflect changes
in output, but Nigeria had not done so since 1990, thus sectors such as
Telecom Media and Technology (TMT) i.e. e-commerce and mobile phones,
strong financial services, growing labour market and its prolific
creative sectors such as “Nollywood” films now worth 1.4 % of GDP had to
be factored in to give an up to date picture. This is in addition to
the revenue generated from the petroleum industry which accounts for 95 %
of Nigeria’s export earnings and 85% of total government revenue.

Private equity fund - a first for Tanzania. Locals
have been urged to invest more in Tanzania as the country launches the
Mkoba Private Equity Fund – the first ever private equity fund in the
country. The Sh480 billion (US$300 million) fund aims to provide growth
capital to portfolio companies not on the radar of most funds. The fund
will focus on Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, DRC, South Africa,
Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, targeting equity investments
ranging from US$1.0 to US$15 million.

Biggest oil discovery yet in Kwanza basin off Angola.
Cobalt International Energy has discovered significant quantities of oil
offshore Angola, calling the find the biggest so far in the promising
pre-salt layer in the Kwanza Basin. Oil drillers hope discoveries under a
deep submerged salt crust off Angola known as pre-salt may match the
prolific finds beneath similar deposits off Brazil on the other side of
the Atlantic in recent years. Analysts say Angola, Africa's No. 2 oil
producer, could double its oil reserves, which are currently estimated
at just under 13 billion barrels, if pre-salt drilling proves
successful. Cobalt estimates the well may hold between 400 million and
700 million barrels of oil.

Kenya and Nigeria sign trade agreement. Kenya and
Nigeria have signed three agreements and four memoranda of understanding
aimed at promoting trade between the two countries. The agreements were
on trade and agricultural cooperation which lay the foundation for
business people from Kenya and Nigeria to interact and promote business
and make provisions for the two countries to work together in boosting
their agriculture respectively. MoUs signed were on cooperation in
police service, five year multiple visa for prominent businesspersons,
cooperation in control of the possession and trafficking in narcotics
drugs and psychotropic substances, and one MoU between Nigerian
Association of Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture and
the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was signed at a
business forum attended by Kenyan and Nigerian business people.

For more information on travel to Africa please visit the Pure Safari site.

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Recognizing the integral role of wildlife conservation for the
development of tourism in Tanzania, the Singita Grumeti Reserves, a
privately-owned wildlife reserve, has joined conservation programs
through logistical and financial support.

Located in North Western Tanzania, on the borders of the Serengeti
National Park, Singita Grumeti Reserves is an American owned private
concession of 140,000 hectares (350,000 acres) on the famous Serengeti migration route of nearly two million wildebeest.